The laundry process generally has several benefits for fabric, the most common being to remove dirt and stains from the fabric during the wash cycle and to soften the fabric during the rinse cycle. However, there are numerous disadvantages associated with repeated use of conventional laundry treatment compositions and/or the actual laundry process; one of these being a fairly harsh treatment of fabric in the laundry process.
Fabrics can be damaged in several ways as a result of repeated laundering and/or wear. Fabric pilling and loss of fabric surface appearance e.g. fuzzing, shrinkage (or expansion), loss of colour from the fabric or running of colour on the fabric (usually termed dye transfer) are some of the common problems associated with repeated laundering. These problems may occur merely from repeated hand washing as well as the more vigorous machine washing process. Furthermore, problems relating to damage of fabric over time through normal use, such as loss of shape and increased likelihood of wrinkling are also significant.
The present invention is directed towards alleviating one or more of the problems referred to hereinabove.
Laundry detergent compositions containing polyamide-polyamine fabric treatment agents are described in WO 98/29530. The compositions are claimed to impart improved overall appearance to fabrics laundered using the detergent compositions, in terms of surface appearance properties such as pill/fuzz reduction and antifading. Laundry compositions containing polyamide-polyamine treatment agents of similar types are taught in WO 97/42287.
An industrial process for treating fibres is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,949,014. This document describes the use of a polyamine-epichlorohydrin resin in a binder, together with an amphoteric high molecular weight compound having at least 2 cationic groups and at least 2 anionic groups per molecule. U.S. Pat. No. 3,949,014 mentions the treatment of fabrics with the binder but it is clear that the treatment is intended to be carried out industrially as part of a fabric treatment process rather than as part of a domestic laundering process and this conclusion is supported by the fact that the fabric treated with the binder required curing at a relatively high temperature. Industrial curing of fabrics treated with this type of polymer system is normally caried out at about 150.degree. C.
Methods for treating wool with compositions containing an amino functional polymer so as to impart shink resistance are known. However, as described in EP-A-0315477, wool requires a pretreatment before such compositions can be used. Furthermore, EP-A-0372782 explains that the chemistry of wool is quite different from that of cellulosic fibres such as cotton and the requirements for shrink resistance treatments for cotton are generally very different from those for wool.
Anti-wrinkle sprays containing a silicone and a film-forming polymer are described in WO 96/15309 and WO 96/15310. A wide range of possibilities is given for the film-forming polymer.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,371,517 discloses shampoo compositions and compositions for treating fabrics containing cationic and anionic polymers. In a non-domestic treatment, the compositions increased the rigidity of cotton fabric.
DD 221922 relates to co-emulsifiers, for use in fabric softener and other compositions, which contain cationic quaternary ammonium polymers.
The present invention aims to provide novel delivery systems for certain fabric care compositions.
The principal advantage of the present invention relates to maintaining the surface integrity/appearance of the treated fabric upon repeated washings to give a fabric surface that shows improved colour definition (compared to fabrics treated with conventional compositions) as a result of treatment with the compositions of the present invention.
The compositions of the invention also provide, in addition to the aforementioned advantage, the benefit of improved dimensional stability of the fabric as a result of treatment with the compositions of the invention. The term "dimensional stability", and related terms, used herein covers not only shrinkage of fabrics but also shape retention, bagginess reduction and additionally, although less preferred, crease/wrinkle resistance in fabrics.